All The Repeats In This Hymn Very Easy To Understand, Says Organist

John Man, organist and local hero, was pleased to find that he could easily and clearly understand when and where he should repeat all the sections of this hymn.

“It’s so great playing this hymn,” he said to himself, “because it’s laid out in a very logical way with this bar obviously coming after that bar. What a delight.”

As Man played this great hymn, he took a moment to ponder the sweet, immortal delights of sensible printing practices, such as not printing all the words for subsequent verses on the next page because you hate the idea of happiness and are dead inside. “I really am enjoying the way this hymn has been printed in a way that does not create any spiritual or psychosomatic pain in my soul and/or body.”

We showed the hymn to Captain Scum Overlord, who typesets hymns for a living. “Oh, no this won’t do. Much better that we print the first and second verses using a repeat sign and a first and second time bar, after which the second time bar can have a separate repeated section of its own followed by a dal segno back to the refrain, which repeats again back to the beginning of the first verse via a third time bar which is the same as the first time bar, followed by a last time bar which ends in the middle of the hymn, which we will print before the second time bar, which we will print after a page turn. I am doing the Lord’s work.”

Unaware of these planned changes, Man says that playing this hymn is proving to be one of the best experiences of his life that he will cherish forever. “I’ll probably tell my grandchildren about how beautifully this hymn has been set out,” he said, “and how it could not possibly be improved with any changes. What a delight.”